Stung by Ram, Chevy steps up truck spiffs

DETROIT -- After the Ram pickup outsold the Chevrolet Silverado in March, a General Motors spokes-man said it was easy for Ram to "buy market share" with incentives.

But just hours after the Ram's victory was announced on Tuesday, April 1, GM opened its wallet to buy the share back.

The Ram pickup outsold the Silverado in the United States last month for the first month since August 1999. The Ram posted sales of 42,532 vs. the Silverado's 42,247.

After the sales results were revealed, Chevrolet said it was extending its March Truck Month promotion into April, boosting lease incentives and increasing consumer savings on certain Silverado models.

Chevrolet Vice President Brian Sweeney wrote in the brand's Dealer Playbook for April that Chevy was adding "an additional $1,000 of bonus cash on light-duty Silverado double cabs that will help us get after the heart of the pickup market."

Chevrolet's Truck Month promotion in March offered discounted supplier pricing for all customers on its 2014 Silverado pickups and savings off sticker on certain models of up to $7,541.

For April, Chevrolet will expand those discounts. Savings now on 2014 models top out at $8,162 for the light-duty double cab V-8 and up to $8,974 for a 4x4 diesel Silverado 2500HD crew cab.

In an e-mail sent to scores of dealers in the Northeastern United States and obtained by Automotive News, a GM district manager expressed incredulity that Ram had sold more pickups in March than Chevrolet. "Okay -- time to take the gloves off and go back and take back what rightfully belongs to every one of you ... Silverado truck sales," the GM district manager wrote.

The e-mail contained details of a regional lease offer that would put Silverado payments at $269 a month, with about $1,900 due at signing, compared with a Ram advertised lease of $259 a month, with $2,999 due at signing.